Order of St. Benedict. A major/primary resources for all things
Benedictine on the Internet. As a tip, look
at the entire site, thats when I was able to find the
things that were of most interest to me.

"We are a small group of volunteer oblates from
various monasteries who, since the first World Oblates
Congress in 2005, have formed a team to act as a conduit
for information for oblates and thus established this
website for oblates and monastic communities, who may
wish to make use thereof.

"This site has been designed to provide information
about oblates and for oblates, and about the different
Benedictine monastic communities that exist in Great
Britain and Ireland."

Jewish roots Brief summary of
how Jewish practices before Christ shaped the daily
prayer practices of the earliest Christians. These
are the roots of the divine office still prayed
today in Benedictine monasteries around the world.

Mystical Theology -
"extraordinary forms of prayer, the higher forms of
contemplation in all their varieties or gradations,
private revelations, visions, and the union growing out
of these between God and the soul, known as the mystical
union."

Before
St. Teresa of Avila
(a Carmelite) "mystics were concerned principally with
ecstasies, visions, and revelations." Part of the
reasons
St. Teresa is one of the most read mystics today
and most admired is that St Teresa "was the first to
attempt a scientific analysis of the process of mystical
union brought about by contemplation."

Mysticism- Don't worry
"mysticism" is not a bad word in the Catholic Church!

Throughout
history monastics, (monks, nuns, and sisters) have
carried the mystical traditions of the Church.

From the
New Advent Encyclopedia:

"To
some souls...even in the present life, God gives a
very special grace by which they are enabled to feel
His sensible presence; this is true mystical
contemplation. In this act, there
is no annihilation
or absorption of the creature into God, but God
becomes intimately present to the created mind and
this, enlightened by special illuminations,
contemplates with ineffable joy the Divine essence."

Best Daily Online Commentary on the Rule of
St. Benedict as applied to oblate life:

This site illustrates the small-world character of the
Benedictine life. Brother Jerome Leo is a monk at St.
Mary Monastery in Petersham, Massachusetts. He
wrote/writes a daily commentary on the Rule. Everyone
wants his daily reflections so you will see them all
over the place  but that is good because his
reflections are often the best thing on any message
board. He is loved by all. I think his writing is some
of the best modern thought on the Benedictine monastic
life. He also has a mailing list that contains only his
daily reflections. He used to be a monk at St. Leo
Abbey and he frequently uses events/monks he knew to
illustrate a point. You can easily read his past
reflections on this site w

hich contains only his
reflections. His reflections are an easy way to learn
the Rule and what it means to be an oblate.

OTHER MESSAGES BOARDS
AND ONLINE GROUPS AND FORUMS

Everyone has different tastes in discussion forums, here
are the ones I have found, most are not too active,
but a few are.

Just as John Soule said in 1851, "Go West, young man,
and grow up with the country, (which was popularized and
then attributed to Horace Greeley), I advise oblates
today, "Go on the Internet, young oblates, and grow up
in a new era of monasticism."

Short Breviaries in 20th and 21st Century America.
"Source book for those who
have an interest in the breviary and its prayer."
Contains
charts and information on the structure of the
Divine Office in many publications.

Benedictine Spirituality
and St. Benedict's biography. Aneight-page PDF of the key elements of
what makes Benedictine spirituality a powerful
presence during the last 1,500 years. The
second part of the PDF document gives the most
memorable and important parts of St. Benedict's
life (480 - 543 AD).

Jewish roots
Brief summary of how Jewish practices before Christ shaped
the daily prayer practices of the earliest Christians. These
are the roots of the divine office still prayed today in
Benedictine monasteries around the world.

Good overall monastic web site 
Christ in the Desert. This is the
monastery that was featured in the TV show the Monastery
in 2006. The material written by the Abbot especially
has that great monastic feel about it -- to me at least.

The classic
1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
at New Advent. I use this
almost like a dictionary and it has lots of articles on
monasticism and St. Benedict and the Divine Office, etc.
Put the New Advent Link on your toolbar so it is
available with just one click of the mouse, as you come
to new terms, just look them up on New Advent.
Nothing is better or as complete. They knew how to
write encyclopedias in 1913.

MORE IN DEPTH:

The history of

"Oblates in Western Monasticism,"
by Derek G. Smith. This is an in-depth long
article about
which monasteries had oblates duringthe development of monasticism in the West.
My favorite points made by this article are following:

1. Throughout the long history of oblates in the
West, the number of oblates has always expanded
during times when monasteries "placed primary
emphasis on contemplative prayer and a life of
silence." We are seeing the effects of Vatican
II to help turn the church to a "serious commitment
to simple, humble monastic prayer." This has
been a factor -- often repeated in history -- for
the large increase in the number of oblates now.

2. And this pleasing quote that looks to the
future, "The free and supple structure of oblature
adapts well to a wide variety of religious
temperament and social circumstance. It seems to
present marvelous and large opportunities for the
life of intensive Christian meditation and prayer;
it is a rich inheritor of, and contributor to, the
life of evangelical humility and simplicity
envisioned by Our Holy Father [St.] Benedict, a man
of God for all times."

Early
Desert and Monastic Fathers  Ancient authors you should
know

Read
an introduction to these ancient authors at the web site of the
Monastery of the Ascension in Jerome, Idaho, USA:

These are long documents from the Vatican, often
by Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI. These
will appeal mostly to those who want to spend
considerable time in monastic study -- but who knows
-- these may be just the words that might make
someone want to explore the world of monasticism.